


Pick Me Up

by karygurl



Series: Pick Me Up [1]
Category: Seduce Me (Visual Novel)
Genre: F/M, Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-07-06
Updated: 2015-07-06
Packaged: 2018-04-08 01:08:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,927
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4284900
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/karygurl/pseuds/karygurl
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Mika has a bad day at work.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Pick Me Up

Mika softly pushed the front door closed behind her and leaned against it, her hair falling like a curtain around her face as she hung her head and let her purse slide from her shoulder to the floor. Her day had been absolutely horrible, full of juggling too many tasks and brainbending to get through her work, and her body felt like someone had poured cement down her throat and let it solidify in her chest.

Finally arriving home should have been a comfort, but she had been concentrating on that one goal - getting home - all day, and now that she was there, her brain felt like it had just powered down. Nothing but static behind her eyes. Woodenly, she headed to an ornamental chair in the foyer that looked like it had never been sat in before and settled into it heavily, falling into it more than choosing to sit. She sighed, feeling like her breath took more out of her than just air, then pulled her knees to her chest and let her body list to the side.

She stared for who knows how long, happy to just let her brain decompress for a while. However, after some time, she heard Sam call her name and she winced. One part of her desperately wanted him to come over and put his arms around her, but another part just wanted to be left alone to wallow in self pity. She acknowledged that it was childish, but logic was really no use against the torrent of feelings that she couldn’t untangle.

She still hadn’t moved by the time Sam appeared in front of her, and when she didn’t look up at him, he sank down on his haunches and cocked his head to meet her eyes, his brow furrowed. “Hey, what’s wrong? You all right?”

She could hear the worry in his voice and the heavy feeling in her gut worsened. She was being selfish by making him worry about her. “Rough day at work,” she said, her voice trembling only a little, and she worked the muscles at the corner of her mouth in an attempt to give him a small smile. It felt more like a grimace or a pout than a smile, but she couldn’t bring herself to try again. No doubt he saw right through her, anyway.

“Did anyone hurt you?”

She shook her head slowly.

“Then what can I do to make you feel better?” When she remained silent, he reached out to grab hold of her hands wrapped around her knees. “Come on, Mika, you’ve got to tell me. I don’t know… What do you need?”

“Cake and ice cream,” she spit out sulkily, meaning it as a joke, but Sam instantly stood and spun around, calling out, “Zecaeru!”

Mika closed her eyes at the sudden appearance of bright white light in the lobby. When she opened them again, Matthew was right next to her and Sam, staring bewildered at the space between his hands.

“What the hell, Sam?! I was just about to finish the duel–” Matthew frowned at the look on Sam’s face, and when he glanced down at Mika, his expression instantly melted into open concern. “Hey, what’s wrong? Are you okay??”

“Cake. Now,” Sam demanded, pointing to the kitchen, but Mika shook her head to countermand him.

“Sorry, Matthew, you don’t have to do anything, you can go back to your game. I was joking, I just had a really bad day and…”

Matthew cut her off with a brilliant smile. “No, no, don’t worry about it! I was, ah, just finishing up and trying to think of something else to do anyway. Just give me a little bit to get it in the oven, okay? I’ll make your favorite strawberry charlotte cake!”

Before she could muster the energy to dissuade him, he had run off in the direction of the kitchen, leaving her and Sam alone in the foyer. “Sam,” she begged, “please, you don’t have to bother anybody. Me having a bad day is no reason to have everyone drop what they’re doing.”

In response, he dropped his hand on her head and gave her a cocky grin. “Yeah, actually, it is. Now tell me what I can do for you before I call the rest of my brothers in here.”

Oh, lord. She knew he’d do it, too. Frowning, she tried to come up with something quickly, if only to keep him from going overboard. “I just… feel like lying in bed and forgetting the world exists. Could you take me upstairs?”

“No problem, come on,” he said as he slid one arm under her tucked in knees, the other around her back and picked her up as if she weighed nothing. He sounded a little bit relieved, finally having something he could do for her, and it made her have to push back the feeling of wanting to cry. Not that it was hard… she’d pretty much been doing that all day.

Mika turned her head into his shoulder, closing her eyes while he carried her up the stairs. She was tempted to drift to sleep right there, but Sam stopped abruptly just inside her bedroom door, and she blinked a couple times before turning her head to see what was going on.

“Erik? What are you doing?“ Sam asked suspiciously, his question directed at the incubus exiting Mika’s bathroom.

“Just drawing a nice, hot bath for a dear princess who’s had a very long day,” he responded, reaching out to grasp Mika’s hand and briefly press a kiss to it. When Sam stepped back to pull her out of Erik’s reach, the older brother chuckled and took the opportunity to slip past them and exit her room.

Sam let out an annoyed sigh (though she could tell it was all bluster) before he gently lowered her onto the bed. “You can take that bath if you want it, while it’s hot,” he said and she nodded slowly, standing on her own before he could offer to help her. Once inside the bathroom she closed the door and was startled at what greeted her; there were rose petals strewn across the surface of the gently steaming bath water, and more than a dozen candles were lit and scattered around the surfaces of the bathroom. Fluffy towels were even laid out for her to use, including one rolled up on the edge of the tub for use as a pillow.

Mika could feel her eyes burning with tears at the sweet gesture, but she swallowed it back and stripped out of her work clothes before tentatively dipping her fingers in the water. Steaming, but not too hot. Perfect. She hurriedly dug through one of the drawers to find a hair tie and some pins to tuck her hair up and out of the way.

It took a few moments for her to lower herself completely into the water, but once her body was submerged, she closed her eyes, rested her head back against her makeshift pillow and let her limbs float. The heat seeped into her pores, relaxing all the tight muscles and rough edges that had been increasingly bothering her as her day went on. She couldn’t hear anything but the occasional tinkle of water against the bathtub, and she let the soft silence settle over her.

Time drifted away from her while she laid in the water, occasionally raising her hand to watch the droplets fall from her fingertips or making little waves that slapped against the side of the tub. Once she began to feel lightheaded from the heat, she pulled herself upright and reluctantly stepped out of the water. After opening the drain and wrapping a towel around herself, she hesitantly cracked open the bathroom door, not sure if Sam would still be there.

Of course he was, sitting on the bed with his back against the headboard and his legs stretched out in front of him, his hands holding a book at arm’s length. Upside down.

When she accidentally let a soft giggle slip past her lips, he tossed the book aside and straightened up, smiling as he looked her over. “You look like you feel better.”

She nodded absently as her eyes scanned the rest of the room. A strawberry charlotte cake was sitting on her nightstand, a thick slice already cut and resting on its own plate with a fork, waiting for her to try a bite. Beside the nightstand were several piles of books.

“From James,” Sam explained, swinging his legs over the side of the bed as she walked over to examine the titles. Most of them were her personal favorites, their spines and covers well-worn. A few were unfamiliar to her, but fell within similar genres; no doubt he had picked out recommendations for her to try.

“I’m surprised Damien hasn’t stopped by with something,” Mika mused aloud.

Sam chuckled and raised an eyebrow at her. “Who do you think told me, Erik and James? He knew something was wrong as soon as you got home. He couldn’t tell what you needed but figured one of us could fix it.”

That did it. She couldn’t explain why, but the thought of Damien realizing that she was upset and hurrying to tell his brothers, combined with everything they had done for her, made her eyes burn and the pressure was finally too much. She pressed her lips together but still couldn’t stop the tears that finally started coursing down her cheeks.

“Shit, what did I say?!”

Through her tears she could make out his blurry form rise to stand in front of her but when she opened her mouth, all that came out was a choked sob. She raised her hands to cover her face and while she was grinding the heels of her hands into her eyes to get them to just stop, she felt Sam’s arms wrap around her and pull her to his chest.

“Come on, doofus. I was trying to make you feel better, not worse.” She felt his chest heave with a sigh and a hand move to rub her neck. “You know I’m not good at this kind of stuff. Is there someone at your work I can beat the crap out of? I can do that, that’s easy.”

Mika shook her head, even though the brief mental image of him pummeling her boss was pretty satisfying, and lowered her hands a little, pressing her face into his shoulder. She swallowed back the lump in the back of her throat before attempting to speak. “Thanks but I’m good…” After the initial burst of tears, her face felt like it was burning but at least she didn’t feel like crying anymore. “Sorry…”

She felt him lean forward to knock their foreheads together. “Don’t apologize, doofus. Just feel better already, all right? And eat some of that stupid cake. Matthew made me beat the mousse and there’s no way any human can do it faster than me.”

The mental image that sprung into her head - Sam screaming as he whipped mousse in a bowl so fast that it was a blur - was enough to finally make her laugh again, her chuckles muffled by her face in his shoulder. Mika pulled back, her hands still resting on his chest, and gave him a small but genuine smile. “Fine, I’ll have some cake, as long as you eat some too.” Honestly though, just having Sam around was enough to make her feel better.


End file.
